


December

by BotchedExperiment



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Suicide Attempt, hc kate knits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 20:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15781197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: Chloe's dead. Max and Kate have a conversation.





	December

**Author's Note:**

> Because I love these two and their relationship.

She didn’t want to bother Kate with it. The poor girl had already been through so much, she didn’t need Max's problems too. The longer Max shut her out, though, the more aware she was of the fact that she needed someone. She couldn’t go through this alone.

Every single one of Chloe's deaths were still fresh in her mind.

Max hadn't been able to look Joyce in the eyes since Chloe died. She couldn’t help but feel responsible. Sure, it wasn’t her fault that Nathan Prescott decided to bring a gun to school that day, but after everything she'd seen in the other timelines… watching Chloe _live_ past that one day, it caused overwhelming guilt in the pit of her stomach.

"Knock knock?"

Max's soft voice turned Kate's head up to the doorway. Kate waved and offered soft, friendly smile.

Just her presence was comforting; Kate was too sweet for words.

She scooted over from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her newest knitting project in her hands. Kate excitedly patted the spot next to her.

"Come in!"

Max complied, unable stop a little grin at how much Kate's mood had improved. The past few months weren't easy for either of them and very nearly cost Kate her life. It was nice to see her do things she enjoyed again.

Max wasn’t sure why either of them wanted to come back to Blackwell at first… it was such a horrible school, wasn’t it? But the students seemed to be closer than ever since Nathan and Mr. Jefferson were arrested. It was like everyone realized how much they really needed to stick together. Sure, Victoria was still a major bitch, and the school faculty was still learning how to prepare for those kinds of situations in the future, but school was better.

Kate leaned back against the wall and continued her row. It was a tube of blue and black stitches, done much more neatly than Max could ever pull off when she tried to take up the craft.

"What are you knitting?"

"A cup cozy. For David Madsen."

Max blinked. She learned at the beginning of the month that Kate liked to give something to all of her teachers for Christmas.

David Madsen wasn’t a teacher.

Or a particularly pleasant person.

"Really?"

"Mhm!"

"Why? Aren't you at least a _little_ pissed at him?"

"Well," Kate was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath and choosing her words carefully. "He was trying to help, and… after Chloe…" Kate sighed as she started a new row. "I just wanted to do something for him, you know? It can't be easy losing a daughter. Or- stepdaughter, I guess."

A little smile tugged at Max's lips. "That’s… really sweet. You're definitely more forgiving than I am."

"Don’t be so sure, Max. I've seen you actually act civil with Victoria. That's pretty forgiving."

Max snorted. "Yeah, she's pretty tough to be nice to. Especially after-" She stopped herself, but there was no disguising what she was about to say. A frown formed on Kate's face and Max could feel her heart sink. She really needed to learn when to shut up. "Sorry."

Kate's suicide attempt was still a sensitive topic. They hadn't really mentioned it since she got out of the hospital. Of course Max had to go ahead and blow that wound wide open, because why would she be smart and think before she spoke?

"No, you're right." Kate inspected her knitting project before starting on another row. "Victoria isn't the easiest person to talk to, that's for sure." She cracked a little smirk.

Things were quiet for a little while. Awkward. Silent, except for the loud voices out in the hallway just like every weekend. Fridays seemed to make everyone ten times louder. She could imagine Chloe being one of those loud people, and she didn’t even live in the dorms. Chloe always got loud when she was excited, not giving a shit what anyone else thought, and yet she was still capable of those quiet moments. Max missed that.

"You okay?"

Max looked up, realizing that not only was she being mesmerized by Kate's knitting, but that she had tears streaming down her face.

She sniffed and nodded, swiping at her cheeks. "I miss her."

Maybe she could have interfered, scared Nathan off and kept Chloe safe. Maybe she could have… done anything at all besides sit there and listen to the gun go off.

God, she was so embarrassed. The random crying had been happening since Chloe died, and apparently it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

"Max," Kate placed a hand on her arm, pulling her from her own head. "I'm so sorry you lost her."

Max wanted to say something, anything to make this situation less awkward, but she only ended up sobbing and wiping snot on her sleeve.

"Aw, Max…" Through tear-fogged eyes Max saw her friend set down her knitting before pulling her into a gentle hug. She really tried her best not to cry on Kate's clothes.

"I'm sorry," She croaked.

She felt Kate chuckle. "Don't apologize. Seriously."

Chloe's death seemed like fate, and yet Max couldn’t stop thinking about how she could have saved her. She sometimes wondered if it would have been easier to let the town get destroyed instead.

Max took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of herself. "Do you… do you believe that everything happens for a reason, Kate?"

Kate thought for a moment. "I believe that good can come out of any situation."

As things calmed down, it got quiet again, but this time it was a comfortable, welcome silence. Max scrolled through her phone for a bit while Kate picked up her knitting again.

"You know what would be fun?" She asked, breaking the silence.

Max narrowed her eyes, suspicious of her friend. "What?"

"A sleepover."

"Oh, true! I can't believe we haven't had one yet. When do you want-"

"Tonight, Max! Go get some blankets and we'll have a movie night."

Excited, they wasted no time going to Max's room and grabbing as many pillows and blankets as they could carry. They pulled out both of their snack stashes as well, because if there was any night for comfort food it was that one. It was the weekend, they were going to live it up and have fun for the first time in two months.

They got comfy and took their time discussing (arguing) what they were going to watch. Max was already halfway through her bag of chips she was supposed to be saving for the movie.

"Wait, I think I know what we should watch…" Kate looked through her movie shelf for a few seconds before pulling one out and proudly popping it into the DVD player.

"What is it?" Max asked, suspicious once again.

The 'Back to the Future' title screen nearly made her choke on her snacks.

"Huh."

"What's wrong, you don’t like this one?" Kate was ready to get up and change it before Max stopped her.

"No, I love it."


End file.
